Darien pulls away from Wilton in boys lacrosse

Mike Levitt, Correspondent

Updated
8:54 pm EDT, Thursday, April 14, 2011

DARIEN -- The express train called the Darien High boys lacrosse team pulled out of the station last week with a season-opening win over St. Joseph's, got up to speed in its win over defending FCIAC champion Greenwich, and plowed full-throttle toward destiny with Thursday's with a 14-7 win over Wilton.

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Led by junior All-American attackman Case Matheis, who had a hand in five of the Blue Wave's seven first half scores with two goals and three assists, Darien opened up a 7-3 halftime lead.

"I've embraced the leadership role," Matheis said. "But it's not just me out there contributing. We know about our preseason rank, but we all worked hard in the offseason to get into this position. We've got an inner confidence and know how good we can be."

Four minutes after the break, Wilton got a goal back thanks to Chris Nugent, who led the Warriors with a second half hat trick. However, Darien showed its depth and experience over the quarter's final seven minutes, with two long-range scores from junior Henry West and a hat-trick from Ben Preston that extended the lead to seven.

"We've got a lot of shooters and a lot of scorers," said Preston, who scored three goals in the final minute of the third quarter. "All six of our attackmen, our middies, and even some long-sticks can put the ball in the net. There's a variety of talent."

The statistic of the day was Darien's ability to pick up ground balls and win face-offs, thwarting Wilton's scoring chances.

"It's painful because we worked so hard, got a few goals and then got killed by mental errors that stopped us from executing," Wilton coach John Wiseman said. "They didn't kill us in the offensive set, it was on transitions or after we took penalties. But give them credit for doing what they had to do. Possession is the name of the game and you can't play a team like this without bringing your `A' game."

Darien coach Jeff Brameier had every reason to be pleased with his team's play -- from the dominance of faceoff specialist Clay Barker and the clearance out of the back from goalie Dylan Torey, to the Blue Wave wing play that led to swift transitions -- but did note one facet in which his team needs work.

"We have to be a little more cognizant of the clock when we are in possession," Brameier said. "We don't always have to go into hyper drive when we get the ball. We know we've got guys that can take defenders with skill, but we don't need to force it when we just got it."